With the increasing popularity of playing streaming audio and video over networks such as the internet, there is a need for optimizing the data transferred from a server to a client such that the client's experience is maximized even if network conditions during playback are inconsistent. Optimizing the client's experience involves choosing a quality level for encoding the audio and video portions of the video playback such that the video can be transferred and reconstructed with a minimal number of errors.
The quality level is generally dictated by the bit rate specified for the encoded audio or video portions of the input stream. A higher bit rate generally indicates that a larger amount of information about the original audio or video is encoded and retained, and therefore a more accurate reproduction of the original input audio or video will be presented during video playback. Conversely, a lower bit rate indicates that less information about the original input audio or video is encoded and retained, and thus a less accurate reproduction of the original audio or video will be presented during video playback.
Generally, the bit rate is specified for encoding each of the audio and video based on several factors. The first factor is the network condition between the server and the client. A network connection that can transfer a high amount of data indicates that a higher bit rate can be specified for the input video that is subsequently transferred over the network connection. The second factor is the desired start-up latency. Start-up latency is the delay that a video playback tool experiences when first starting up due to the large amount of data that has to be received, processed, and buffered. The third factor is the tolerance to glitching. Glitching is when video playback has to stop because data is missing. In most cases any amount of start-up latency or glitching is intolerable, and it is therefore desirable to optimize the bit rate specified such that the start-up latency and the glitching are minimized or eliminated.